For me, this move came a bit too late. Two of my very close friends decided to go to New York University and Wesleyan University instead of Amherst only because we did not have a film major. I fully support the creation of a Film and Media Studies (FMS) major; I love the idea of submitting a documentary video project on the foods I don’t like at Val instead of having to write a 10-page paper for my sociology class. A quick perusal of the blue course catalog in the Film and Video Arts section yields some incredibly interesting (sounding) courses like “Asia Pop!” or “India in Film: Hollywood, Bollywood, Mollywood”. I’m definitely trying out a film class while I’m here at Amherst.
But one has to question the timeliness of this move. The College is looking into having Professor Amelie Hastie (University of California, Santa Cruz) as the ‘anchor’ professor for the major. “We’ll need at least three professors: one ‘Criticism’, one ‘Theory’ and one ‘Practioner’ professor for the film major,” said Professor Christian Rogowski of the German department — one of the foremost people involved in the creation of the FMS major. However, is this a good time to have a new major that would create a staffing problem, given the recent hiring freezes and a handful of unfilled positions?
Other equally relevant concerns arise. Does the creation of a legitimate film major mean better facilities for the arts scene? For example, the Wesleyan Cinema Archives contain the personal papers and film-related materials of Frank Capra, Clint Eastwood, John Waters and others. Everyone would agree that the ‘theater’ at the basement of Keefe Campus Center is not adequate for a premier liberal arts school like Amherst, especially now that we have a film major. Our peers, including Wesleyan and Smith College, are well-equipped with state-of-the-art cinemas and theaters that constantly screen blockbusters, plays and independent movies produced by students.
Such necessary renovations of the theaters, however, are definitely not top priority, as Merrill Science Center and Robert Frost Library are. Proper staffing and better facilities should accompany the creation of a full-fledged, legitimate film major, but this might not happen in light of the many financial hardships the College is facing.
Granted, it is about time a premier liberal arts school like Amherst had a film major, but is this move just to get it over with? The timing seems a bit arbitrary and unfavorable to me. Maybe we’ll be better off without a film major for a couple more years, especially when film classes have been offered in the Theater and Dance, English and Asian Languages and Civilizations departments for 35 years now.
The bottom line is that this move should mean more facilities, and the arts scene at Amherst should change in the long-run. The major will also make film classes more accessible to students; consequently, this will make a huge impact on everyone’s liberal arts education. But in any case, students do not need to major in film to become great directors, actors or writers in film. Amherst students are incredibly diverse and talented in their own ways. Some Amherst grads have already made it big in Hollywood, like actor Jeffrey Wright ’87 who has won a Tony Award, an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, and Alan Dybner ’93, writer of the very funny “That ’70s Show’’. Film major or not, new facilities or not, we hope to hear from an Amherst grad in Hollywood in the near future.